The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on January 4, 1999. Geographically, the MW covers a broad expanse of the Western United States, with member schools located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Hawaii.
The charter members of the MW included the United States Air Force Academy, Brigham Young University, Colorado State University, San Diego State University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University of Utah and the University of Wyoming. Before forming the Mountain West Conference, seven of its eight charter members had been longtime members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and half of these had been charter members of that conference from 1962. Overall, each school that has ever been either a full or football-only member of the MW spent at least three years in the WAC before joining the Mountain West.
Member schools[]
Current full members[]
Members departing for the Pac-12 Conference in 2026.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Type | Enrollment | Endowment (2024) (millions)[1] |
Nickname | Colors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Air Force Academy | Air Force Academy, Colorado[lower-alpha 1] | 1954 | 1999 | Federal (Military) |
4,181 | $98.9 | Falcons | |
| Boise State University | Boise, Idaho | 1932 | 2011 | Public | 26,155 | $161.5 | Broncos | |
| California State University, Fresno | Fresno, California | 1911 | 2012 | 25,047 | $254.8 | Bulldogs | ||
| Colorado State University | Fort Collins, Colorado | 1870 | 1999 | 33,648[2] | $623.6 | Rams | ||
| Grand Canyon University | Phoenix, Arizona | 1949 | 2025 | Private for-profit[lower-alpha 2] (Non-denominational) |
103,427[lower-alpha 3] | $21.6 | Antelopes | |
| University of Nevada, Reno | Reno, Nevada | 1874 | 2012 | Public | 21,034 | $560.0 | Wolf Pack | |
| University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Las Vegas, Nevada[lower-alpha 4] | 1957 | 1999 | 30,660 | $423.8 | Rebels | ||
| University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 1889 | 1999 | 21,738 | $661.0 | Lobos | ||
| San Diego State University | San Diego, California | 1897 | 1999 | Public | 32,599 | $415.7 | Aztecs | |
| San José State University | San Jose, California | 1857 | 2013 | Public | 32,432 | $203.6 | Spartans | |
| Utah State University | Logan, Utah | 1888 | 2013 | Public | 27,943 | $614.9 | Aggies | |
| University of Wyoming | Laramie, Wyoming | 1886 | 1999 | Public | 11,100 | $810.2 | Cowboys & Cowgirls |
- ↑ As of June 30, 2024. U.S. and Canadian 2024 NCSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2024 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY23 to FY24, and FY24 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student (XLS). National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) (February 17, 2025).
- ↑ CSU campuses report increased total enrollment for 2023.
Future members[]
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joining | Type | Enrollment | Endowment (2017) (millions)[1] |
Nickname | Colors | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, Davis | Davis, California | 1905 | 2026 | Public | 40,848 | $2,172.7[2] | Aggies | Big West | |
| University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa[lower-alpha 5] | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1907 | 19,097 | $341.4 | Rainbow Warriors & Rainbow Wahine |
||||
| University of Texas at El Paso | El Paso, Texas | 1913 | 25,121 | $241.7 | Miners | Conference USA |
- Notes
- ↑ As of June 30, 2023. Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ University of California Annual Endowment Report Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023.
Former full members[]
| Institution | Location | Founded | Joined | Left | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Colors | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigham Young University | Provo, Utah | 1875 | 1999 | 2011 | LDS Church | 34,390 | Cougars | Big 12 | |
| Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, Texas | 1873 | 2005 | 2012 | Disciples of Christ |
11,938 | Horned Frogs | ||
| University of Utah | Salt Lake City, Utah | 1850 | 1999 | 2011 | Public | 34,900 | Utes |
Reference[]
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mountain West Conference. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |
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